A Falling Leaf

Programme note

A Falling Leaf traces a single leaf's journey from branch to earth. It opens with a cascade of falling quavers that passes from soprano down through alto and tenor to baritone, each voice taking up the line as the one above lets go. The notes left hanging in the air gather into a soft wash of harmony.

Once airborne, the leaf flutters, rising and catching, drifting and pausing. The quartet splits into pairs, two voices carrying the melody while the other two rock gently beneath, before the roles turn over and the leaf sinks lower. Then the wind rises: the voices enter one by one from the bottom up, each quicker than the last, and converge on a single note before fanning out into a held breath. The gust breaks in swirling whole-tone harmony, the four voices in clashing rhythms, climbing to a peak and collapsing. As the wind falls away, a lone voice drifts on, and the music settles into stillness.

The harmony draws on Debussy's world of colour: chords that shimmer rather than resolve, modal and whole-tone writing, and a freely breathing tempo. In the wind, shifting time signatures and irregular rhythms capture the unpredictable movement of the leaf on the air.

The ending mirrors the opening in reverse, with the cascade climbing from baritone back to soprano. One by one the lower voices fall away, until a single high, quiet soprano note is left hanging like a held breath.

Photo by Liana S on Unsplash